TAIPEI--The governor of China's Hunan province promoted Chinese traditional medicine in Taipei Wednesday and expressed hope of working with Taiwan to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the industry.

Hunan Governor Xu Shousheng said Taiwan's success in quality management and market development could help promote the Chinese medicine industry, which he described as prosperous.

He made the remark at a Taiwanese alumni reception of the Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The Chinese medicine industry in the province has been growing rapidly, and over 70,000 students have graduated with degrees in Chinese medicine in the province, he said. The industry there generates about 17 billion Chinese yuan (US$2.67 billion) per year.

He called for cross-Taiwan Strait cooperation in modernizing the traditional Chinese medicine industry.

Meanwhile, Xu also visited Chang Hung-fang, a woman from Hunan who lives in New Taipei City, and noted that 34,000 Chinese people from Hunan live in Taiwan with their local spouses.

He said that he is happy to see Hunan women leading happy lives in Taiwan.